A new church in Xianning, Hubei province will be dedicated on May 25, 2019.
Construction on Dafan Church kicked off on August 8, 2017 and was completed at the end of 2018. At a cost of about 3 million yuan, the new five-story church of more than 2,000 square meters (0.494 acres) will be used for worship, training, and reception.
Located in central Xian'an District, Dafan Church was founded in 1996 when only a few people gathered together. However church attendance increased to about 70 by 1999.
During the next three years, the congregation worshiped God in a rented house. In 1999, it purchased land on a desolate hill. After the believers dug down the hill and repaired the road, a simple church was completed the same year which could hold 100 people.
In 2014, the attendance of 200 exceeded the church's capacity. Due to a lack of funds, the two-storey brick and concrete structure was poorly built.
Owing to the rapid development of urban construction, the church's foundation was severely damaged by long-term surrounding rock blasting and hill excavations initiated by local real-estate developers in recent years. The church was identified as being dilapidated by relevant departments in 2014 and was demolished in the same year.
One year later, the local government allocated 1615.29 square meters or 0.399 acres of land to the church. A new church, consisting of a chapel, training building, dormitories, canteen, and parking lot, was built in 2018.
- Translated by Karen Luo
